


Striations

by amiasha



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Real murderer au, The twins live!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amiasha/pseuds/amiasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something as simple as a glitched phone can be enough to change the future. The twins never leave the lodge the night of the party, and so next year all ten friends meet up for another great vacation. But fate hasn't changed completely...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Trying my hand at a multi-chapter UD fic, combining two of my favorite au concepts: the twins survive, and there's a real murderer. And of course wendigos, because you gotta' have wendigos.
> 
> This is unbeta'd so please excuse any errors, but feel free to point them out in the comments and I'll fix them up! I hope you enjoy. ♥

“Are you two going to do this all night? Beth asked, voice laced with exasperation as she leaned on the counter near her brother Josh, his best friend Chris sitting across from them. Josh was filling shot glasses with Fireball, though he paused in his efforts to grin over in his sister’s direction.

“What, jealous? You can join in, you know. Plenty to go around.”

“Ugh, no thanks.” Beth had no problem with the occasional night of drinking, but it was really a wonder Josh and Chris were still sober enough to talk by 2 AM. Normally they’d be passed out drunk at this point, but they’d gotten a late start due to something about Chris’ phone that just had to be fixed before he could start drinking; Beth had found Josh’ longsuffering but fond sighs and eyerolls pretty amusing, especially as it had taken Chris about two hours of tinkering to actually fix the issue.

But the setback only meant they were getting started late, not that they’d decided getting blackout drunk was a bad idea. Boys.

“Your loss, sis.” Josh responded, passing Chris one of the shots, which Beth noticed was definitely a double. “Okay, Chris, on three. I’ll give you ten bucks if you don’t make a girly face when you drink this time.”

“You’re on.” Chris responded, picking up his shot, and Beth decided that was the time to ditch her idiot brother and their idiot friend. As she left the kitchen with a roll of her eyes, she heard coughing and laughing behind her before she closed the door.

Now where were the others?

It was oddly quiet in the rest of the house; she had been expecting to find her friends in the living room by the fire, but the first floor was silent. Maybe they were downstairs in the cinema room, or—

“Hannah!”

Beth turned her attention toward the stairs, where the sound of her girlfriend’s voice had come from. Sam sounded worried, which was unlike her if she didn’t have a good reason for it, and so Beth started up the stairs to the second level. She ran directly into Sam as the blonde woman was exiting the hall, clearly about to make her way toward the stairs.

“Sam, what’s going on?” Beth asked, eyebrows furrowed at the look of concern on Sam’s face.

“Beth, have you seen Hannah? I’m trying to find her before…”

“Before what?”

Sam shook her head, obviously frustrated. “The others are trying to play a joke on her, and it’s just mean. Some sort of fake date with Mike.”

“What?” Beth asked, instantly feeling her temper surge; she didn’t need any more details than Sam had offered to put together what was probably going to happen, and to feel angry on her twin’s behalf. “I didn’t see her in the living room.”

“Well she’s not up here either, so…”

Probably one of the guest bedrooms on the first floor, or maybe downstairs. Either way, the Lodge’s sprawling layout was a major hindrance suddenly, and Beth—not for the first time—wished they had cell service up here. A text message would’ve solved this problem very quickly.

But as it was they’d just have to look the old fashioned way and Beth led the way back down the stairs without another word, Sam right behind her. As soon as they set foot on the first floor once again, Beth head footsteps and was just in time to catch Hannah’s arm as the girl tried to race past her towards the back door. “Hannah, stop—“

“Beth, leave me alone!” Hannah shrieked, voice strained from sadness and embarrassment rather than any anger toward her twin, and despite her words she didn’t make much effort to pull her arm from Beth’s grip. Sam was at Hannah’s other side immediately, a gentle hand on Hannah’s shoulder.

“Hannah, come on, let’s just—“

“No! I just want to be alone, god, I’m so stupid…” Hannah trailed off, eyes already filled with tears, as she held her partially unbuttoned shirt closed against her chest. 

“Going outside would be stupid; it’s two AM.” Beth responded, and though her words were harsh her voice was understanding. “Whatever the hell else happened isn’t your fault.”

“I thought he liked me!” Hannah said, the tears beginning to fall down her cheeks, voice even louder than before. Beth distantly heard a door open and footsteps, but her focus was on trying to guide her crying sister toward the couch.

“You can do better.” Sam responded, uncharacteristically scathing, but Beth didn’t disagree; Mike was handsome, she supposed—not her type, of course—but he was far too aware of that fact. He was too smooth-talking and self-serving for her naïve, trusting sister.

Hannah looked like she was about to protest Sam’s declaration as she finally sat down on the couch in front of the fire, but the sound of Josh’s voice cut her off. He and Chris were the source of the sounds Beth had heard, apparently drawn by Hannah’s yelling. “What’s going on, Hannah?”

One look at Josh and Hannah burst back into tears again, Sam sitting beside her on the couch and rubbing her back gently while Beth turned to explain the situation to the boys. “Apparently our ‘friends’ decided to pull some sort of prank on Hannah about Mike.”

“H-He said he wanted to m-meet me in the guest room.” Hannah elaborated through her sobs. “Th-That he thought I was hot a-and he… But everyone was there hiding and laughing at me!”

Beth’s lips pressed together in a thin line as she heard more of the story, and she could feel Josh fuming next to her. Chris had taken a few steps closer to hover nervously near Josh, looking like he was uncertain if he’d need to step in and prevent a fight or something.

It was a scenario that seemed likely when the rest of the group finally arrived, all together, entering the living room from the hallway that connected to the guest bedroom. Beth’s sharp gaze fell on a very sheepish-looking Mike first, but before she could even look around to the rest of the group Josh was already in Mike’s face.

“Dude, what the hell did you do?” He asked, normally relaxed voice tense and coldly angry, any hesitation he might’ve had about approaching the situation so bluntly clearly gone after however many shots he’d gotten through after Beth left the kitchen.

“It was just supposed to be a joke, man, it just got out of hand.” Mike explained, looking suitably contrite even if his excuse wasn’t, the rest of the group behind him shifting nervously and looking around anywhere but toward any of the Washingtons.

Josh didn’t seem too impressed with Mike’s response—Beth wasn’t either—and just stepped in closer, enough so that Chris decided it was time to intervene. “Bro, I don’t think—“

“Stay out of it.” Josh told him sharply, attention shifting back to Mike; Chris didn’t back off, but glanced back toward Beth and then back at Josh and Mike again, watching them cautiously. Josh’s focus was all on Mike, still. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Josh, look, I’m really sorry—Hannah, I’m really sorry.” Mike responded, gaze shifting past Josh at the latter part of his sentence, toward Hannah still on the couch.

“Yeah, a little late, you think?” Beth asked back, scathingly, then looked toward the rest of the group; Jessica and Emily were right behind Mike, looking uncertain, while Ashley and Matt seemed to be trying to melt into the floor. Beth caught Jess’ gaze for a moment, casting her best friend as disappointed a look as she could manage. Jess stared down at the floor.

Josh was still clearly angry, every muscle tense, but he finally just turned his back on Mike and returned to Hannah’s side. “I think the party’s over for tonight.” He said, in a tone that made it clear there would be no arguing, and everyone had the sense not to try. Beth cast the awkward-looking group another disdainful look before turning her own attention back toward her sister, only barely listening to the sounds of the others retreating to the guest rooms for the night.

“Come on Hannah. You’ll feel better in the morning.” Sam told her friend, tone gentle as she offered a smile. “And when we make breakfast tomorrow, Mike’s pancakes will be conveniently chocolate-chipless.”

The incredibly tame threat earned a watery smile and weak laugh from Hannah, and Beth sent Sam a grateful look. Everything was calming down a bit, at least; embarrassed as Hannah might’ve been, Beth knew Sam was right. She’d feel a lot better in the morning.

“Sam’s right. Let’s just go to bed; we’ve still got two days of partying left, with or without the idiot squad.” Beth agreed, though after a mockingly critical consideration of Josh and Chris she amended her statement. “Without most of the idiot squad, anyway.”

That earned another laugh from Hannah and jokingly offended responses from the boys, the mood continuing to lighten until Hannah agreed to go get ready for bed. Josh and Chris decided to postpone their night of getting drunk and went back to Josh’s room—supposedly to sleep but surely to play video games until six AM—and Beth and Sam went with Hannah back to Hannah’s room. It took another hour or so of talking and giggling for the three girls to fall asleep. The next morning was awkward, consisting of a lot of tension and silence from hurt feelings and guilt, but by the afternoon a round of apologies led to the salvaging of the rest of the vacation. 

Life went on for the ten teenagers, all unaware of how close they’d come to their futures being changed forever.

But their reprieve only lasted for one year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group returns to the lodge for the 2015 party, but soon discover they're not alone on the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been reading, left kudos, or left comments! I hope you're all enjoying. ♥

“Five bucks says Chris fell on his face.” Beth offered with a grin, and Sam tried not to laugh but couldn’t manage to hold it in. The mental image of their friend attempting to climb the short rock wall was too funny.

“I don’t take bets I know I’ll lose.” She responded, reaching up to get a handhold and beginning to scale the wall, Beth waiting her turn—and possibly enjoying the view—before doing the same. Soon both girls were on the other side of the wall, continuing their walk to the cable car station.

It was a year after the last get-together on the mountain, and it felt like it had passed in a blur. College took up most of Sam’s time, the rest spent split between her girlfriend and her other friends; fortunately sharing a school with most of her friends made it easy enough to keep in touch. Only Jessica and Matt were still in high school, but with Jessica being Beth’s best friend and Matt now dating Emily she got to see them often enough as well.

Still, she ended up spending most of her time with the three Washington siblings and Chris, and by extension Ashley as well. Whatever was going on between the latter two was incredibly obvious to everyone but them, apparently, and Sam could tell that both Josh and Beth were getting to the ends of their patience with Chris and Ashley dancing around the subject. Sam was pretty certain Hannah was the only reason Beth and Josh hadn’t just shoved Chris and Ashley into a closet together and refused to let them out until they admitted their feelings.

“It’s nice to be back.” Sam commented after a few minutes of walking silently, taking a deep breath of the cold mountain air and smiling. She’d been stuck inside far too much in the past year.

“Yeah.” Beth agreed, as they climbed the few stairs to the cable car station. “I’m still not used to not being here all the time.”

“The struggle of school.” Sam responded with a grin, stopping to look up at the looming mountain for a few seconds before turning toward the bench near the station, where a lone backpack was sitting. “That’s Chris’, right?”

“I think so. He has the key to the station, so he should be around here somewhere.” Beth responded, pulling her blue peacoat closer to her body and looking around as Sam wandered closer to Chris’ backpack.

An iphone was sticking out of the front pouch and Sam eyed it curiously, the name ‘Ashley’ lighting up on the screen intermittently as the phone alerted the reception of a text message. Sam considering a few moments whether to check the message—it was practically begging her to look at it—but Beth’s voice distracted her. 

“There you are, nerd.”

Sam looked back to see Chris approaching from around the corner of the cable car station, seemingly somewhat pleased with himself and utterly unbothered by Beth’s teasingly impolite greeting. “Hey, Chris.”

“Hey.” Chris responded, warmly, then looked toward Beth. “So, you’ve been holding out on me.”

“About what?” Beth asked lightly, and Sam looked at Chris curiously as well.

“There’s a freaking shooting range.” Chris responded, eyes shining with excitement. “How long has it been there?”

“Dad put it in like four years ago.” Beth responded, unimpressed. “You just noticed it? Seriously?”

“Well I kind of got left here with nothing to do but babysit the cable car.” Chris responded in a tone of great suffering as he retrieved his backpack. “Had to go exploring. I haven’t gotten to like, try it out yet though.”

“I don’t know if you should really be handling a gun.” Sam commented, not feeling too enthusiastic about the whole idea. She didn’t like guns to begin with, and she’d known Chris more than long enough to be a little concerned for his safety—and everyone else’s—if he was using a weapon.

Beth seemed not to have the same reservations, though, already leading the way back toward the shooting range. Sam was definitely expecting something a bit more than the little setup of old beer bottles and sandbags, and so was more than a little underwhelmed by the detour. “Guys, the cable car will be here in just a sec.” She said, futilely trying to redirect them back towards their goal, but Beth was already picking up the rifle and demonstrating to Chris how to use it.

Ugh. Outnumbered.

Sam just sighed quietly in the background as Chris and Beth took turns making shots, though she was silently impressed by how good they both were. Beth had clearly practiced shooting before, and either Chris’ skill at Counterstrike was serving him well or he was a natural. Or both.

But Sam was definitely glad when she heard the cable car approaching the station, because she had reason to pull Beth and Chris away from the shooting range. “Come on, guys. Cable car’s here.”

“Awwww.” Chris responded, looking back, rifle held up to his shoulder as he was poised for another shot. “Just a few more minutes.”

“Chris, come on.” Sam said again, then shot her girlfriend a ‘help me out here’ look. Beth sighed.

“Put it down, Chris. We’ll go to a gun range or something when we’re back home.” She said, and the offer was enough for Chris to—albeit reluctantly—place the gun back where he’d gotten it from.

A few minutes later and the three were on their way.

* * *

This was going to be so much fun.

Hannah had gotten up to the mountain early with Josh, setting things up before their friends were set to arrive; while Josh wandered around outside, going back and forth from the lodge to the cable car station to meet with friends, Hannah was in the lodge making sure they had enough snacks. Doritos, check. Pizza rolls, check. Edamame, check. Soda, alcohol, coffee? Check. 

There had been some trouble with the power in the lodge, but they’d at least gotten the kitchen up and going. Josh had been a little baffled by the issue, checking the breakers and the generator, but eventually decided that there must just be a short or something; ultimately power wasn’t all that important, and the room it was most important in was working anyway.

She heard the door open and went to go see which of their friends had arrived, spotting Matt and Ashley entering the lodge. Ashley looked a little nervous but excited, but Matt seemed… Agitated. Upset about something. Huh.

“Hannah!” Ashley chirped brightly at the sight of her, and Hannah returned her friend’s smile. They had seen each other only a few weeks ago on campus, but she was still excited to see the younger girl because it was a party. Everything was more fun at a party.

“Hey Ashley! Hi, Matt.” She added, turning her smile toward Matt and glad to see him offer a small smile of his own back. “I’m really glad to see you. This is going to be great.”

“Definitely.” Ashley agreed, pulling off her coat and draping it over one of the covered couches as Matt wandered off to sit down and brood. “Everyone’s so busy with school it’ll be nice to have everyone all together again.”

Hannah sidled up next to Ashley, a small grin on her face; she couldn’t resist. “Anyone in particular that it’s going to be nicest to see?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ashley responded, but the pink tone to her cheeks made it obvious she did. Hannah giggled but let it go, not one to tease someone too much about their crush. She’d moved on from Mike and forgiven her friends for what they’d done the year before, it but still stung enough that she didn’t want to do the same thing to anyone else.

They were soon distracted by the sound of the door again, and Josh entered followed by Chris, Sam, and Beth; Josh offered the three already present a big grin, announcing proudly, “Hey, guys, neverfear. The cool kids are in the house.”

“Where are they?” Hannah and Ashley asked in unison, then broke down in giggles. Josh scoffed and Beth rolled her eyes, but Sam was hiding a grin and Chris didn’t bother to pretend like he didn’t approve of the comeback. Hannah was pretty sure it had more to do with seeing Ashley laughing than the actual comment, but whatever.

“Yeah, yeah, real funny.” Josh said, lazily wandering toward the fireplace as Sam came over to give Hannah a hug of greeting. Hannah smiled, returning the embrace, then moved to hug her sister next; it had only been two days since she saw Beth, but that still felt like forever. Chris, her honorary second brother, got a fistbump before he not-so-subtly stepped to the side to strike up a conversation with Ashley.

“Hey, party people!” Mike announced his own entrance, Jessica following gracefully behind him, both offering smiles and waves to the whole room. Only Matt seemed less than pleased to see them, ignoring Jessica to step up toward Mike, and before Hannah knew what was happening Josh was pulling Matt off of Mike.

“Guys, what the hell?” Josh asked, sounding more confused than mad as Mike backed up several steps even though it looked like Matt’s temper had already calmed.

“Nothing.” Matt responded, staring hard at Mike, but aside from some bitterness his tone was even. “Nothing.”

“Yeah. Misunderstanding, apparently.” Mike agreed, though he sounded less ready to let it go. Josh seemed to notice that, glancing behind Mike toward Jessica, and then back toward Mike. “Hey, how about you take Jess up to the guest cabin? Have some ~alone time~ and come back tomorrow morning?”

Hannah might’ve once been jealous, or at least sad, upon seeing the look on Mike’s face at that suggestion, but instead she found the sight of metaphorical wheels turning in Mike’s head to be funny in a way. She even offered a wave as Mike agreed, taking Jessica’s hand to lead her toward one of the side doors of the cabin just as Emily entered the living room and missed the drama entirely.

“Hope they brought protection.” Hannah heard Beth mutter next to her, unimpressed, and Hannah elbowed her sister in the ribs at the same time as Sam did the same from the other side.

* * *

She just wanted a bath. 

Sam sighed loudly to herself, trudging back downstairs to find Josh sitting crosslegged in front of the lodge’s still very much unlit fireplace. Emily lounged on the couch next to Matt, curled up against his side as they spoke quietly, and both Beth and Hannah were standing near Josh with identical judgmental looks on their faces. Ashley and Chris were nowhere to be seen, but Sam could hear Ashley’s voice from the kitchen and she assumed the two were getting snacks.

“Look, just let me try it.” Beth said, in the tone of someone who had already suggested this several times, and Josh gave her a look that practically confirmed it. The woman rolled her eyes, but then spotted Sam. “Hey, back me up.”

“Sorry.” Sam responded, as she approached. “I’ve got bigger problems than no fire. No hot water.”

“Ohno.” Hannah said, in a tone of good-natured mock horror. Sam fixed her best friend with a flat look for the teasing, then turned her gaze on Josh as he started to rise to his feet.

“Okay, fine. Beth, you win, take over. Come on Sammy, let’s go fire up the boiler.” Josh said, offering Sam a smile and pointedly not looking at Beth’s grin of victory as she and Hannah moved to start working on the fire. Sam wondered for a moment how Josh hadn’t been able to start a fire in a gas fireplace, but she wasn’t about to start poking fun at the guy who was going to get the hot water going.

Hopefully he’d be better at that than at the fire, which judging by Beth and Hannah’s cheers as Sam followed Josh downstairs the twins had managed to get going in about forty seconds.

The basement was a creepy place, but Josh’s presence was reassuring and the two joked back and forth as they got the boiler going. Sam had never operated such a big piece of machinery, and even if all she was doing with it was turning a switch and hitting a button she felt pretty accomplished and shared a high five with Josh as they turned to head back upstairs.

And then they heard it.

Two bangs, almost like cracks of distant thunder, one about a second after the first. Sam froze in her tracks, unable to place the noise but dread settling in her stomach, and beside her Josh went completely stiff for a few seconds until there was another bang. Then Sam placed the sound, different from in the movies but familiar from only a few hours earlier. Gunshots.

Josh unfroze as that same time as she did, racing for the stairs, and Sam’s heart pounded in her throat; they were running toward the shots, but they had to. The twins, Matt and Emily, and Chris and Ashley were all upstairs; what was going on? Was one of the boys stupid enough to fire some gun they’d found in the lodge inside? No, neither Matt nor Chris was that irresponsible, but she wanted them to be because that was the only explanation that she could allow as acceptable. Anything else meant…

Josh slammed open the door to the basement, took two steps out, and then Sam saw him freeze again. But this time it was only for a moment, and instead of continuing forward—or turning back toward her—he just dropped.

Sam stopped where she was, halfway up the staircase, as a man stepped over Josh and onto the landing of the basement steps. It felt surreal, like she was in a dream, goosebumps rising on her skin as she stared at the man; he was incredibly tall, maybe even taller than Matt, large-framed and dressed in dark clothes. His face was covered by a greyish-beige mask that was utterly blank other than two holes for the eyes, two slits for the nose, and an open hole for the mouth behind which she could see a wide smile.

And then she saw the gun.

She could run upstairs, toward the man, toward Josh and her other friends, or she could turn and run for the basement. She didn’t want to leave her friends but going through someone with a gun was utterly suicidal.

So she ran. A shot rang out, impacting in the wall as she turned the corner, racing down the second set of stairs and into the basement proper, but where could she go from there? She ran past the boiler, turning, and then caught sight of a cabinet; it was big enough, if it was empty, and she didn’t have anywhere else to go—

Sam pulled the door open, climbing in and pulling it shut behind her just as she heard footsteps reach the hallway of the basement. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and didn’t move.

* * *

Josh awoke as suddenly as he’d lost consciousness, but he wasn’t sure right away what exactly was going on; his head spun as he rolled over, realizing as he did so that he was on the floor. How did he get on the floor? 

He pushed himself up to his knees, then unsteadily to his feet, pressing his hand to the side of his head as he began to register that something must’ve happened; the sound of gunshots in the lodge came back to him in a rush, and wasn’t he with Sam? He staggered up to his feet, head aching, and at first he thought it was ringing in his ears but no. He could hear a woman crying, sounding like it was coming from the floor above him.

So he went forward, toward the stairs, using the railing heavily for support and too afraid of there being someone trying to hurt them in the lodge to shout out to whoever was crying. He figured it out soon enough as he got to the main floor of the lodge, seeing Ashley huddled in a corner; he couldn’t tell at first glance it she was hurt, but she was obviously terrified. Still, when her eyes met his she gasped and stood up, moving to meet him.

“Oh my god, Josh, are you okay?” She asked, and Josh could see a bruise beginning to form across her left cheekbone.

“Yeah. Just a little brain damage, nothing worse than usual.” Josh offered in response, the dry sass automatic; inside he was feeling anything but casual and flippant. “Ash, where's…?”

He doesn’t ask a name because at this point he doesn’t know about anyone at all. Chris had been in the kitchen with Ashley, and the twins and Emily and Matt had been in this room they’re in now. And Sam had been…

Ashley just shook her head, tears starting up again. “I don’t know, Josh. There was a man in a mask and he just… Oh my god. I don’t know what happens to Chris; when I woke up he was gone and I came in here and it was just empty.”

“Hey, maybe that’s a good thing. They probably ran when they heard the shots.” Josh reasoned, praying that was the case, at least for the group that was in the living room and hopefully Sam. But if whoever attacked them entered the kitchen first and went after Ashley and Chris first, where was Chris?

How was this even happening?

“Where's Sam?” Ashley asked, through her tears.

“I don’t know. She was in the basement with me, then I think that fuck hit me.” She would’ve been cornered down there; there's no way the man hadn’t found her if he was looking. And since she wasn’t here with them, then…?

“What do we do?” Ashley asked quietly, moving closer to Josh whether for comfort or to show support he wasn’t sure, but she seemed to be calming down again.

He had to give a better answer than 'I don’t know.' He had to know, had to find his sisters and their friends and protect Ashley at the came time, but this wasn’t a movie. This was real life and he couldn’t do this, but he had to.

“If the twins ran, they probably would head to the guest cabin.” Josh began, unsure of his own words at first but getting more confident as he spoke. “Maybe Matt and Em went with them.”

It seemed reasonable. They’d head to the secluded shelter where they knew Mike and Jessica were going. But that still left—

“What about Chris and Sam?” Ashley voiced the question Josh was thinking, still looking terrified but determined underneath it.

“I don’t know. Maybe Sam got out through the basement, but if Chris was with you…” Then he might be in serious danger, or worse. Josh didn’t want to consider the possibility even though it was already running non-stop through his head.

“Don't say it.” Ashley's voice was thin and she looked like she might faint, and Josh really hoped she wouldn’t. “He's got to be okay. Sam too, and the others, and we will be too…”

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s try to get to the guest cabin. At the very least we'll find Mike and Jess.” Mike might be a jerk and Jessica was dumber than a mannequin, but four was far better than two when dealing with a potential murderer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danger compounds, but some of the group gets early warning of a threat they may otherwise have never been expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My schedule is going to get very busy from here out with my university classes, but I'll be doing my best to update reasonably quickly. Thank you everyone who has been reading! ♥

The first thing Chris registered was that he was cold. It was cold in the lodge but not like this; he ducked his head into his arms on reflex, trying to avoid the biting sting of the wind, but the motion shot pain through his entire face. What happened…?

He forced his eyes open, not realizing at first that they were closed, and lifted his head from his arms. He expected to see the interior of the lodge, and maybe something else that he felt like he was missing but couldn’t quite remember, but instead what he saw was snow. Snow, and trees, and a small lit walkway lamp and a fence.

Why was he outside? And where outside was he?

He was sitting on his knees in the snow, he realized, leaning sideways against the fence, and everything hurt. His face was especially painful and he tried to move a hand to check the damage but the attempt just caused another spike of pain, this time through his wrists, and he realized suddenly that his hands were bound to the fence.

“W-What the fuck?” He asked no one in particular, fear shocking him into full wakefulness, and he cast rapid glances around at his surroundings; it looked like he was alone, down a small dead-end path he’d never been on before. But that just raised more questions, like how he’d gotten here and why, and where were his friends?

He tugged on his hands, twisting his wrists to try to pull himself free, but the plastic ties wouldn’t budge and he gave up for the moment to come up with a better plan; it was easier said than done with how badly his head ached, and he realized distantly that one of the lenses in his glasses was broken. He would’ve just assumed he’d been outside and injured himself badly enough that he couldn’t remember the incident, if it weren’t for that his hands were tied.

This was a little far for a prank from one of his friends and so that thought was dismissed entirely, which meant he was probably in real danger, and likely so were the others. The last he remembered he was with Ashley in the kitchen of the lodge, so if someone had attacked him, what happened to her? What happened to the twins, and to Sam and Josh, and to Emily and Matt?

Chris looked around his surroundings once more, trying to find something sharp enough to cut himself free, but a rustling noise caused him to freeze in fear. It was too loud to be a squirrel; it had to be something bigger, like a deer or maybe a person, and he was torn between hope that one of his friends had found him and fear that whoever had left him here might’ve come back.

But it was neither, and it wasn’t a deer either. The creature stepped out of the underbrush onto hands it was using as legs, slinking low to the snow-covered ground as it entered into a patch of light cast by the walkway lamp, the glow reflecting off its grey skin and cloudy eyes and it slowly crept a few steps closer to Chris.

He didn’t move. It wasn’t like he could run or hide; there was no choice other than to stay totally still, huddled against the fence and trying not to breathe, praying that somehow it wouldn’t see him. But there was no way it could miss seeing him; if he’d had a hand free he probably could’ve reached out and touched it.

And yet when the creature turned its gaze toward him it didn’t linger any longer in his direction than in any other, and it took a few more steps toward the side as it cocked its head, listening for something. Chris wasn’t sure how it couldn’t hear his heart, pounding so hard in his chest that he felt like it might break free.

Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the monster was gone back into the trees. Chris didn’t dare to move for another minute that felt like an hour, but then it was like a switch had been flipped and he let himself sag limply against the fence, beginning to shake violently. What the hell. What the hell was going on?

Okay, breathe. Think. He had to get loose and find his friends, and avoid… Whatever that thing was, if it was even real; what if he was hallucinating? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure which thought was more terrifying. 

He decided to risk trying to pull his hands free again but with just as little luck as before—the zip-ties were too strong—but then a thought came to him, and he ducked his head enough to pull off his glasses. It took a bit more strength than expected to shove his thumb through the broken lens, fully shattering it, but it was well worth the effort when he was rewarded with a few decently sized shards of glass. A little twisting around and he was able to begin cutting, and a minute or so later the plastic fell away and he gave a quiet sigh of relief.

His glasses went into his pocket, as only one lens was really not going to help his vision and unless he was trying to read a phone screen he didn’t really need them anyway, and then tried to get to his feet. His head spun with the effort, stomach lurching with nausea, and he had to lean heavily on the fence for several seconds; still, after closing his eyes and waiting for the dizziness to pass Chris began making his way unsteadily toward the lodge.

God, he hoped his friends were okay.

* * *

“Enjoy it, because I know WE'RE going to! Ugh!”

Jess slammed the door and sighed, stepping further into the cabin and toward her shocked but impressed looking boyfriend, and only barely just out of reach of the long grey arms that burst suddenly through the window. 

She screamed, and so did Mike, but he reached out to pull her behind him just as the creature began to try to climb through the now shattered window in the door.

“What is that!?” Jess was frozen in shock, staring around Mike's shoulder, and she knew they should run but oh god was this a dream?

“I don’t know…” Mike seemed just as stunned, and that snapped Jess back into motion and she began tugging on his vest.

“We’ve got to run, Mike, come on!” The thing was still pulling itself through the window, terrifying and milky-eyed, and Jess knew on some level that if it caught them that was it. The window her phone had come through might be their only way out, and they had to take it.

“Yeah, okay, go!” Mike turned and began pushing her toward the bedroom, clearly having the same idea as she did, and they ran. Mike slammed the door behind them once in the room, pulling a trunk in front of the door as Jessica pulled the blanket from the bed to begin trying to clear the shattered glass from the windowframe. She’d seen it in a movie once.

There was a heavy sound against the door and a nightmarish shriek, and Mike jumped back away from the door and turned to Jessica. “That’s gonna have to do; I’ll give you a boost, then run for the Lodge. I’ll be right behind you!”

“You better be!” Jess responded immediately, and Mike laced his fingers together so she could step into them. The windowsill was still framed with shards of glass but it was at least better than before, and Jess was too amped up on adrenaline to really feel the cuts forming on her hands and legs as she pulled herself through the window and jumped down into the snow.

One quick glance around to orient herself and she began running, retracing their still-visible footprints from earlier. It hadn’t been a bear after all.

For several seconds she could only hear her own rapid footfalls in the snow, but she soon became aware of another set as Mike caught up to her. A quick glance at his face made it very clear they needed to keep running.

So they did, for what seemed like forever, until they reached the mines and had their first real opportunity to hide. “In here!” Mike suggested in a hushed tone, indicating the room they'd found earlier that contained what had almost appeared to be a shrine. They huddled together against the wall, and prayed the creature would pass them by.

* * *

“God, Em, are you sure you’re okay?” Matt asked, voice quiet as they walked, and Emily cast him a glare for his efforts. 

“I already told you, it's not a big deal; we need to get to the cable car.” Her voice was serious, focused on their goal, and normally Matt admired that about his girlfriend. But not when she’d been grazed by a bullet and was bleeding.

“Well, yeah, but what if-“

“What if nothing, Matt! We're on a mountain with someone that shot at us. I don’t want to spend another second here, and even if I did the longer we stay the longer it takes to get help.” Emily responded in that matter of fact tone that allowed no arguing. “You can do the whole doting boyfriend thing once we're safely on the cable car.”

Matt went silent, nervously following after Emily as they neared the cable car station. The two of them had run from the Lodge along with the twins when the shots were fired, but the twins had turned up the path as Emily and Matt had turned downward. It seemed like a good idea at the time to split up, because the man who’d shot at them could only follow one group at a time, but Matt was regretting the choice now. He’d feel a lot better with more backup.

But he couldn’t do anything about that right now, or about the fear that some of his friends might be hurt or worse. He had to focus on Emily—who he knew for certain was hurt—and on getting help. That was all they could do.

As they approached the cable car, Matt noticed something out of place; Emily seemed to see it as well, and she was the first to speak. “Is that an axe? Oh my god…”

It was indeed an axe, sunk into the door of the cable car station, and Matt felt a chill run down his spine. He cast a quick glance around, looking for anyone following them or lingering nearby, but the surroundings were eerily silent and deserted. 

“Well come on, Matt.” Emily’s voice cut through the air, irritation laced in her tone, but it was difficult for Matt to be too bothered by it when he returned his attention to her and saw her pressing her hand to her injured side. Of course she was agitated. 

“Right. Okay, gonna just… Take this.” Matt said, more to himself than Emily, stepping up to the door to pull the axe from the wood. The weight in his hands was immediately comforting. “I feel better with an axe.”

“Axe doesn’t beat gun, Matt. Now open the damn door so we can get out of here.” Emily snapped, shifting from foot to foot, and Matt wouldn’t have argued even if he wanted to. Instead he reached out to the door of the station, and found the handle refused to turn. 

“It’s locked.” He said, surprise in his voice even though he realized he probably should’ve been expecting this.

“Then break the damn door down already! Do you need me to tell you everything?” Emily’s tone was getting sharper and sharper, her dark eyes narrowed, and this time Matt’s stomach lurched in defensive anger.

“What if he’s in there? I’m just trying to be—“

“He was behind us, idiot! Break the damn door down or I’ll do it myself!” Emily cut in, stepping forward as if she was going to take the axe, but she froze in place just as Matt heard the same sound she doubtlessly was reacting to herself.

Footsteps, coming from the trail behind them.


End file.
